


lovely echoes

by windwhisper



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship, Shameless Self-Indulgence, canon compliant (in theory)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24311044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windwhisper/pseuds/windwhisper
Summary: Some nights, Angel Island receives an unexpected visitor. The island's guardian doesn't mind as much as he'd like to pretend he does.
Relationships: Knuckles the Echidna/Rouge the Bat
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24





	lovely echoes

**Author's Note:**

> Would you look at that, I'm still writing! This was honestly pretty fun to write - it was just a passing thought that I decided to chase to completion, like most of my works are, but I can't help but feel like I haven't done the concept justice. I might revisit it later? We'll see.

The sun sets, dipping below the horizon, and Angel Island is bathed in the light of the stars and the moon. The island’s guardian sits silently at his altar, watching the sky. He closes his eyes, the lull of silence and starlight calling him to rest.

As he falls to sleep, someone new descends to the island’s surface. Her silent steps are effortless as she draws close to his resting place, a game that started long enough ago that the finer details elude her now.

As she approaches, however, one eye blinks open; and he tenses, as if sensing a threat. Then he sees it’s her, simply gazing at the emerald to his back, and he relaxes if only by a little. She’s almost insulted by that. 

Almost. It’s more honor than insult, after all.

“Rouge,” he mutters, reluctant acknowledgement. “Don’t try anything.”

She simply sits beside him on the altar steps, a short distance away. “I know. Look, don’t touch.” Then, just to tease, she adds, “Don’t you _trust_ me, Knuckie?”

“I trust you about as far as I can throw you,” he tells her, perfectly serious.

She laughs openly at that, the sound of her voice carrying on the late night breeze. “You could probably throw me pretty far if you were actually trying. I suppose I’ll take the compliment.”

He doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t deny her claim, either.

Their arrangement is something delicate, something only they know the details of. It’s not a secret on purpose, it’s simply private, but if someone were to ask she wouldn’t be able to articulate her feelings on the subject as well as she’d like.

If someone were to ask, she might say that he likes company and she likes precious things, and it’s as simple as that. He appreciates her presence more than he lets on, she’s pretty sure, and she’s always been good at reading people.

Instead they sit side by side and watch the night sky. Stars glitter in the distance, and though she’s seen them up close from the window of a spaceship she thinks that this is her favorite way to look at them.

“Precious things, aren’t they?”

He turns his head to face her, head tilted to the side. He doesn’t voice his confusion, but it’s clear that he’s not trying to hide it, either.

“The stars,” she clarifies, pointing upward.

He snorts, evidently amused. “I didn’t take you for the type.”

Rouge simply shrugs, eyes fixed on the sky. “They’re as beautiful as they are untouchable. Lovely echoes of the long dead, a treasure no one can take.”

“That’s… Surprisingly poetic, coming from you, bat girl.”

She lightly shoves him in response. “What about you, then?”

“My ancestors charted the stars. It’s a small connection to them, I suppose, but it’s something at least.”

 _Lovely echoes of the long dead_ , she thinks again, though this time instead of the stars she glances over at her companion. _A treasure no one can take._

She doesn’t voice the sentiment, choosing instead to keep her silence.

She’s really not the sentimental type, anyway. He’s precious to her, she can admit that much to herself at least, but whether or not he’s aware of it matters little to her.

They’ll stay and watch the stars a while longer, and then she’ll take her leave, and they’ll do it all again on some other night. Going in circles, just the way they have since the start, but that's just the way they are. Such is the way of things, and she won’t seek to change it.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is actually from a line in the fic, for once. The passing thought that inspired this idea came to me while I was listening to Tongues & Teeth, by the Crane Wives. It's a good song, I highly recommend it.
> 
> Some notes on this fic that I want to include but couldn't find a way to squeeze in: Rouge's visits started shortly after the end of Sonic Adventure 2, in the wake of Shadow's 'death'; they talk about deep things but also sometimes just catch each other up on what's been going on or tell dumb stories. Knuckles knows more about Shadow than he ever wanted or needed to at this point.


End file.
